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What Next Generation console is for you?

In November, two new consoles that take gaming to the extreme will be released and available for purchase at Sears. Just in time for the holiday season, Microsoft will release the new Xbox One and Sony will release PlayStation 4. Both consoles feature smarter, more sophisticated technology that will take your gaming experience to new levels. Both consoles also allow you to download games, play as you download and stream media, but there are several differences in what each console has to offer.

Both consoles offer the same amount of memory, the same size hard drive and cloud storage capability, but the PS4 allows you to remove your hard drive, while the Xbox One doesn’t. Both consoles come with one, slightly upgraded controller: the PS4 Dual Shock and the Xbox One Wireless Controller. The PS4 Dual Shock 4 has built-in movement tracking, a built-in speaker and a multi-touch touchpad. The Xbox 360 controller is similar to the Xbox 360 controller, except it has a new feature known as impulse triggers. The impulse triggers should give kickback to the trigger, similar to the rumble packs in the controller body.

Differences

One major difference is the video/motion control devices offered by both companies. While the Xbox Kinect 2.0 comes built into the Xbox One, the PS4 Eye is sold separately as an add-on. The smarter, more sophisticated video sensors in both enable both to reflect players’ in-game motion more accurately. The Kinect 2.0 can process more data per second and track up to six skeletons at once, and its sensor has a higher resolution camera and a field of view that’s bigger than the original Kinect. The PS4 Eye has two high sensitivity cameras with wide-angle lenses that can recognize depth more accurately, enabling the Eye to cut out the image of a player in the background or capture the players’ position in front and behind.

The Xbox One serves as more of a media center than the PS4. The HDMI in and HDMI ports on the Xbox One will take over a cable signal, so you can switch between games, videos, music and live TV without having to switch inputs. The Xbox One voice command capabilities allow you turn on the console or switch to a specific channel by talking to it. Sony hasn’t yet announced if the PS4 will have voice commands, but unlike the Xbox One, it will have BlueTooth.

Most of the consoles’ online features are determined by whether or not you opt pay for a subscription to Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus, both of which serve as online digital media services that also allow you to play with other users online. Both subscriptions allow you to play games online without having to download them, and both have game DVR capabilities. The PS4, however, allows access to features such as Hulu Plus, game DVR, Netflix and streaming gaming video for free, whereas the Xbox One requires a subscription to Xbox Live for those features. With the subscription, Xbox One also gives you access to the NFL Application, Skype and a Web browser; PlayStation 4 doesn’t offer any.

When it comes to gaming system, Sears has everything you need to live in the next generation of gaming.